Nationwide Meeting Speaker Woo Gained-shik, proper, shakes arms with Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Mizushima at his workplace in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Nationwide Meeting Speaker Woo Gained-shik on Monday referred to as on the Japanese authorities to squarely face the “painful historical past” of its World Battle II crimes, together with diplomatic tensions over pressured wartime labor surrounding a mine advanced on Japan’s Sado Island.
Woo made the remarks at a gathering with Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Mizushima earlier within the day, highlighting pending wartime points between Seoul and Tokyo, together with the controversy surrounding the Sado mine and the restoration of stays from the Chosei undersea coal mine in Japan’s western Yamaguchi Prefecture, the place a devastating flood in 1942 killed 136 Koreans who had been forcibly mobilized.
“To additional develop Korea-Japan relations in a future-oriented method, (Japan) should resist the painful historical past between the 2 nations, strengthen financial cooperation and work collectively for peace as companions in Northeast Asia and on the Korean Peninsula,” Woo advised Mizushima, in response to Woo’s workplace.
Woo urged Japan’s cooperation in conducting DNA evaluation of the stays discovered on the website and to contemplate government-level help to make sure security in undersea restoration efforts.
The Sado mines, as soon as well-known as a gold mine between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, was primarily used to provide warfare provides for the Japanese imperial military throughout World Battle II. Greater than 1,500 Koreans are reported to have been pressured into labor on the mines from 1940-45.
Woo referred to as on Japan to take a forward-looking method on such points, saying Japan’s sincerity might be deeply welcomed by the Korean public and contribute to strengthening the bilateral ties between the 2 international locations.
In response, Mizushima burdened that Korea and Japan are “vital companions” that should cooperate on numerous international challenges.
He agreed on the significance of constructing a forward-looking relationship and expressed hope for continued dialogue throughout a variety of points, saying Seoul and Tokyo have “by no means communicated this carefully.”
